Forbidden Lie$
In the wake of the horrific terrorists attacks on the World Trade Centre buildings in New York, a sensational biography, “Forbidden Love”, was released to wide critical and popular acclaim. Written by a Jordanian woman who had fled to Greece, it told the story of the honour killing of her friend “Dahlia”. The author, Norma Khouri, attained overnight celebrity status, doing interview junkets and appearances at writers’ events to discuss her book, and her passionate stance against the tradition of honour killings and the treatment of women in her homeland. She was now a thirty-something year-old Jordanian in exile: a Fatwah having been put on her head as a result of her campaign against these unjust and brutal killings.
Then it came crashing down.
In 2004, a Sydney journalist published an article that revealed her story to be a hoax. Khouri subsequently claimed that details had been changed in order to protect the people referred to in the book. But more and more evidence emerged that made her claims increasingly untenable.
Australian filmmaker, Anna Broinowski decided to do a film about Khouri, in an attempt to support her claims, and substantiate whatever truths may have been lurking between the lines of her book. What she ended up with, is a thoroughly engrossing story that unearthed even more intriguing elements that leave the viewer alternately stunned and amused as the story unfolds.
Although it seems Khouri masterfully manipulates the filmmakers, they get their revenge in the editing room, with the inclusion of some amusing after-effects, (and the decision not to cut an exchange between Khouri and a Jordanian Doctor where he hilariously takes her to task over an opening comment in her book).
In this battle between the con artist and the filmmaker, who wins? Surprisingly, it’s not clear: a look at the film’s website indicates that audiences are divided about whether they believe Khouri’s story to be a con, or art.
There is more to the Norma Khouri saga than her elaborate cons. The predisposition of post- “9/11” western society to jump on any story castigating middle-eastern culture and supporting the view that they are no more than Islamic extremists, being among the most disturbing.
Nevertheless this documentary is, as the saying goes, a ripping yarn!